College roundup: Rout of Monmouth is record win for Navy's Pemper

Stefanie Pemper has 179 wins in 10 seasons at Navy, a record for the most games won by a Navy women’s basketball head coach.

Stefanie Pemper has 179 wins in 10 seasons at Navy, a record for the most games won by a Navy women’s basketball head coach. (By Paul W. Gillespie / Capital Gazette)

NAVY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: A first-half closing 19-0 run secured an eventual 73-49 victory for the Navy women's basketball team over Monmouth Thursday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The win was the seventh in as many games for the Mids (the program’s first 7-0 start since beginning the 1996-97 season 8-0) while the loss dropped Monmouth's record to 2-5.

The victory also was a record breaking one for Stefanie Pemper as her now 179 wins in 10 seasons establishes a new record for the most games won by a Navy women’s basketball head coach. She bettered the mark of 178 set by Dave Smalley who coached the Mids during the first 11 seasons in program history.

“There has been good consistency with the teams,” said Pemper. “Camaraderie, unselfishness, and effort. The women at the school have a lot of pride in wearing the Navy uniform. And we get good kids, we have good resources. I do want our program to be good, and what coach doesn’t. We expect a lot of our staff and our team. It is exciting to be a Division I program, it is exciting to be in the Patriot League, it is exciting to represent the school, it is exciting to live up to the great resources we have. It is kind of, if you are going to be doing it, why not try to do it at the highest level and ask a lot of them (the players). And they seem to like that.”

Navy, which never trailed, slowly edged its way out to an 11-7 lead late in the first quarter, then closed the frame and started the second on a 9-0 run that gave the Mids a 20-7 lead. The Navy advantage would soon be 22-14 before the Mids closed the half on their 19-0 run to build a 41-14 cushion at intermission.

Navy will close out its seven-game homestand Sunday at 3:15 p.m. when the Mids play host to Emory & Henry in the second game of a Navy basketball doubleheader. The Navy men will play host to Morgan State at 1 p.m.

MARYLAND FOOTBALL: Junior wide receiver DJ Moore was named the Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year, the Big Ten announced on Thursday. The award, named after Wisconsin’s Pat Richter and Michigan’s Desmond Howard, recognizes the top wide receiver in the Big Ten based off votes from the leagues head coaches and select media members that cover the conference.

Also Thursday, the program announced four future opponents and home dates. The Terps will welcome Howard (2019), Towson (2023), Bowling Green (2024) and Youngstown State (2027) to Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium in future years.

Maryland was scheduled to host Bowling Green on Aug. 31, 2019 but that game has been moved to Sept. 21, 2024. The Terps will now host Howard on Aug. 31, 2019.The Bowling Green game will complete a home-and-home agreement in which the Terps will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on the Falcons on Sept. 8, 2018. It will be a homecoming for Maryland Head Coach DJ Durkin, who graduated from Bowling Green (2001) and served as a graduate assistant (2001-02), defensive ends coach (2005) and special teams/linebackers coach (2006) for the Falcons.

The Terps will face Howard for the first time since defeating the Bison, 52-13, in 2016. It marked the first win at Maryland for Durkin. Howard’s Head Coach, Mike London, served as Maryland’s Associate Head Coach/Defensive Line Coach during the 2016 season.Maryland will host Towson on Sept. 30, 2023. The teams met this past season with Maryland winning, 63-17.The Terps will welcome Youngstown State to College Park on Sept. 11, 2027. It’ll mark the first meeting between the programs.

NAVY MEN’S BASKETBALL: After playing its last six of seven games away from home, the Mids (5-3) will play a pair of home games at Alumni Hall this weekend. Navy will first host Delaware (4-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. and then host Morgan State (4-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Navy had a very busy opening stretch of the 2017-18 season, playing eight games in the season’s first 17 days. When Navy played its eighth game last Sunday against Denver, only Chicago State (9) had played more than Navy. Navy went 2-1 in its three games at the Homewood Suites FGCU Shootout in Fort Myers, Florida last weekend.

UMBC MEN’S LACROSSE: The Retrievers selected seniors Billy O’Hara (South River) and John Tornabene and juniors Jason Brewster and Gunnar Schimoler (South River) as its team captains for the academic year.

O’Hara, a long-stick defensive midfielder, led UMBC in ground balls for the second consecutive season in 2017. He posted 51 and reached the 100 mark in his tenure. The four-year letterwinner also recorded 18 caused turnovers to lead the Retrievers. O’Hara finished fourth in America East and 58th nationally in ground balls per game (3.64) and third/45th in caused turnovers (1.29) per contest.

O’Hara played his best lacrosse against top competition, scooping up a career-high seven ground balls at defending national champion UNC in the season opener and gathering six in a narrow loss to eventual national semi-finalist Towson on March 4. He has two goals, one assist and 37 caused turnovers in 39 career contests.

Schimoler developed into a consistent, first-unit midfielder in the second half of the 2017 campaign. He competed in all 14 games and started seven of the final nine. A former high school teammate of O’Hara at South River, he recorded five goals and eight total points.

Schimoler only played four games in 2016 due to injury.

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Freshman forward Hallie Persell (Chesapeake) finished with 12 points for the Seahawks in a 68-57 loss to Mary Washington on Wednesday.